Gazpacho

The gas in my building still hasn't been turned on after a week which means no hot showers and no gas stove so I've had to work a little harder to come up with meals. Let me tell you, I've become very resourceful with my toaster oven. The other day I even made a plum crumble in it! 

Today we had gazpacho for lunch. It was super simple to prepare. First, I tore up some day old bread and let it soak with a few squashed up tomatoes, salt, olive oil and sherry vinegar while I prepped the other ingredients. Next, I roughly chopped a little red onion, some cucumber and both red and green peppers. Next, I blended everything together, adjusting the seasoning with more salt, pepper, lemon juice, and tabasco for a little bit of heat. I let the soup chill for a little while and when I was ready to eat, I toasted up some roughly chopped almonds and olive oil croutons. This was the best summer lunch!

Joy of Cooking Pancakes

I'm not that big on sweet breakfasts, but every once in a while I neeeeeeed some pancakes or waffles with maple syrup as soon as I wake up. I pretty much always use the joy of cooking recipe for pancakes and beat the egg whites separately before folding them in for a lighter batter. Cooked in butter and then topped with maple syrup. 

Fried Green Tomatoes + Montreal Trip

Sorry I've been a little absent this summer! Between my euro trip, work, searching for a new apartment, visiting friends and family in Montreal for 2 weeks, moving into my new apartment, not having gas to cook with for the past few days and registering for classes at my new school, I haven't had much time to update... Anyways, I made these fried green tomatoes among other things a few days ago for the family at my grand-parents' country house in St-Sauveur, Quebec. They have an incredible garden with just about every vegetable you could imagine and I just couldn't resist grabbing a few unripe tomatoes for a little side dish to go along with our succotash.

I cooked them pretty much the same way as I cook my fried okra. First, I put a little flour, salt and pepper on a plate. Next, I cracked a few eggs in a bowl and added a few tablespoons of water. Then, I filled another bowl with cornmeal. I cut the tomatoes into thick slices, dipped them in the flour, then in the egg, then in the cornmeal and finally fried them in sizzling canola oil until brown on both sides. Sprinkle with salt as soon as they come out of the frying pan.

My grand-parents' garden:

Some delicious pies:

My family having lunch at the country house:

My favorite dessert ever - Onobelle's Raspberry Torte:

A giant mushroom (probably very poisonous) that I saw growing in the woods:

Me looking a little silly with the fam:

my loving sister, Kali:

Fried Eggs on Buttered Toast with a Zingy Lettuce, Tomato and Radicchio Salad

I like my eggs fried in olive oil and super crispy around the edges. I think sunny side up eggs are lame, but they sure do look prettier in pictures.

Creamy Marrow Bean, Tomato and Tarragon Casserole with Garlicky Croutons + Chocolate and Graham Cracker Tart

This is one of my mom's favorite dishes! It's inspired by a Deborah Madison recipe that she found in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I think everyone should own this book! Deborah Madison approaches vegetarian food in the most un-hippie way possible. I don't think any of her dishes could leave a meat eater unsatisfied!

Anyways, back to the recipe. My mom bought some great local heirloom beans called Marrow beans from a stall at the Topanga farmer's market the other day. Madison actually calls for flageolet beans in her recipe, but I think almost any non black/kidney bean would work fine. We soaked the beans overnight and then drained off the liquid and cooked them until tender with some rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, an onion and some of my favorite smoked dried chilis. The beans were so fresh that they barely took any time at all to cook!

Before:


After:

In a separate pot, I sautéed some shallots in olive oil and butter. After a few minutes, I added in about 10 diced roma tomatoes along with some white wine and let that cook for another 5-7 minutes.


I cubed up a loaf of bread and coated it pieces in minced garlic, olive oil and melted butter before toasting them in the oven.

We steamed some green beans until they were just shy of being done and then combined them in a large casserole dish with the drained marrow beans, stewed tomatoes and shallots, about a cup of cream, half a cup of chopped parsley and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of chopped tarragon. I topped the casserole with the croutons and baked it, covered, until it started to bubble around the edges. At this point, I took off the foil and and let the croutons brown a little more. After taking the dish out of the oven, I finished it with some parmesan.



For the salad, I simply mixed up a little apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, pepper, mustard and olive oil and then coated some lettuce leaves with the dressing right before eating.



Chocolate Tart -

I used this gourmet magazine recipe for the chocolate filling but skipped the glaze. For the crust I used regular graham crackers instead of the chocolate ones, used about half as much sugar and added in about a teaspoon of cinnamon. It turned out really well. I served it with a little raspberry compote.

Fish Tacos + Apricot Bread Pudding

I feel bad for not having updated my sad little blog very much this summer. Being a full time blogger is tough work, let me tell you and I haven't really felt like posting stuff lately. I've been working super hard and when I finally get to spend a night at home and cook a meal, the last thing I usually feel like doing is taking pictures of every step, ugh! Anyways, I've been feeling kinda guilty for not updating the blog in a while, so here it goes!

This is super old from the 4th of July. My dad decided to invite over about a million people without my permission, but we actually ended up with the perfect amount of food!

I didn't follow a recipe for the bread pudding so I basically just combined some milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla orange zest and lemon zest in a bowl and then poured it on top of the cubed bread. In a separate pot, I briefly cooked up some sliced apricots in a little bit of water, butter and maple syrup and then folded them into the bread and custard. I baked it at 350 degrees until it was puffy and golden brown on top!





As for the fish tacos, I decided to make a ton of condiments to go with them. I picked up some wild snapper at the fish market the day before and my dad was in charge of cooking it. He marinated the fish in garlic, chili powder and olive oil.

I made a little coleslaw salad for the tacos. First, I let the sliced cabbage sit with some salt in a colander to drain some of the excess liquid out.




Oh, and we also made tons of corn!!


My coleslaw with a tangy vinaigrette made from sour cream, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil.


A delicious Pacifico beer with lime.


I made some picked onion and jalepeno with equal parts of heated up white vinegar and water, along with a lil' salt.


My sister, the underaged mixologist, made us fancy rhubarb, lime and gin cocktails.


Guacamole, salsa, coleslaw, cilantro, pickled onions and jalepenos.


The fish!



Party time:

My dog Shuggie eying my tortilla.